Epiphany 3, Year B
January 22, 2006
Christ Church, Covington
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people’”
(Mk 1:17).
We’re never quite sure of what we’re getting into, are we? Let’s leave Jesus and
his first disciples by the shores of the Sea of Galilee for a moment and look a
bit closer to home for a story of “call”. I still remember my first impressions
on coming to Christ Church, Covington, in 1997. I had lots of experience as a
priest, but in my vocation nothing quite prepares you for the place itself. Few
parishes have the additional complexity of institutions like Christ Episcopal
School and Christwood built into their expectations for leadership, all within a
context of change and transition within the wider community. It’s a challenging
construct for ministry, but also a creative one. I remember thinking in those
first months that the experience was a bit like going up suddenly in a rocket,
while combating an uncomfortable “g” force inside the capsule. There’s a reason
that NASA used monkeys in the early days of the space program. (With all
deference to the monkeys, perhaps they should have used Episcopal priests.) If
the ship doesn’t shake apart, eventually you get used to the pull, and the
forces balance out. At least that’s the theory.
We answer the call, but we don’t know exactly what will be involved. We don’t
know everything that lies ahead; we don’t know exactly the ways we’re going to
be stretched. Jesus says, “Follow me”, but he doesn’t give all the particulars
about “average Sunday attendance”, stewardship campaigns, or (in my case)
multiple meetings of trustees and directors. All of this unfolds in its own way
and in its own time. Still, there is the call, and a need to respond now, even
when the road ahead is a bit sketchy.
Well, as they say, “You buy your ticket, and you take your ride.” A little bit
of the wisdom of this world, underscoring the choices we make and the
consequences that follow. Once you buy the ticket you are pretty much locked in
to the journey. There’s no getting off until you arrive at the end. Choice
determines what happens.
But this is not how “call” works for Christians. Choice doesn’t determine
anything; God alone does that. “Call” is much more dynamic than deterministic.
In fact, from a human point of view, the entire endeavor looks chaotic rather
than pre-determined. “Call” changes over time, as new pieces emerge. There is
also opportunity for “call” to be re-affirmed at every juncture, and in addition
our various callings affirm us (or not) as they develop.
Everyone knows what this is like. If you are a parent, you know this, since
being a parent is a project no one can fully understand at the start, and which
is inherently chaotic and constantly developing. It’s true of marriage, also;
true of friendship; and I suspect it’s true for every educational, artistic,
professional, and business endeavor as well.
I’ll let you into a secret: it’s not that these various commitments and
endeavors are analogous to God’s call, providing us with lessons for that
far-off day when God might call us; in fact, they themselves are God’s call to
us. We’re called to help build God’s world, by the way in which we live our
lives and by the tasks we are engaged in. There is always more to these
commitments and endeavors than we know at the beginning; they will be messier
and more chaotic and more rewarding than we could ever anticipate.
So it is that we circle back again to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where
Jesus calls two sets of brothers to be his disciples, to leave the life they had
been pursuing to undertake a new one. They have been fishermen, but now they
will fish for people. I imagine they scratched their heads over the meaning of
this dreadful pun. For the disciples, the call meant change, transition, and
danger. It meant the foundation of the Church, and its universal mission. I
hazard the guess that it was messier and more chaotic and a greater blessing
than they could ever have imagined. It’s the same for us, as we go about
answering the call of God in our own day and in our own way.
John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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